


Fine Literature

by towblerone



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 02:31:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3102173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/towblerone/pseuds/towblerone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ship you’ve taken passage on was mistaken for a smuggler’s ship by the Spanish. But rescue comes to you from a very unexpected place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fine Literature

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Squidtastic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squidtastic/gifts).



Deafening cannon fire was only barely muffled by the doors of the cabin the captain had shoved you into. You had burrowed underneath the captain’s desk. There was no real reason to, other than the fact that you felt safer there than standing in the open.

Only minutes before, you had been loitering on the deck, enjoying the heat of the sun on your face and the wind in your hair. You didn’t get to do it often, but traveling by sea was one of your favorite things. You wished you could be a sailor, at times, but you doubted you were suited to the life.

The only times you really got to travel by ship was when you went to visit your father in Kingston. It was something you only did once every few months, and it was where you was headed now.

He’d written to you asking that you come to him. In the letter, he mentioned a surprise. You were curious, but fairly nervous. Surprises weren’t something you were overly fond of.

So you bought passage on this ship. The captain said it would take only a few weeks to get there, as they had departed from Havana.

But, as was obvious, your journey had been cut short. Two small Spanish ships closed in on them fast, and fired upon them before the crew even had a chance to react. It was then that the captain put you in his cabin.

You remained under the desk for a while, listening to the crew bustling about outside and the shouts from all three ship captains. But eventually, curiosity got the better of you. You slowly and carefully left the shelter of the desk and crossed the small room to open the door and poked your head out.

You wished you hadn’t. There was blood splattered randomly across the deck. Several crew members lay dead, missing parts. It was gruesome and sickening.

The ship shuddered suddenly, and when one of the surviving crewmen shouted out, he confirmed your fear: the ship was sinking. Your head swam with fearful, frantic thoughts, hoping there was some way you could make it out of this alive, but it was unlikely.

But, just at that very moment, a fourth ship came rolling up. It was a small schooner, but you heard the captain of one of the Spanish ships shouting - though you didn’t speak much Spanish, so it was unintelligible to you - and to your surprise, they began to sail away. You left the safety of the cabin, feeling safe. The enemy of your enemy is a friend, after all.

You snapped your gaze around the ship you stood on, looking for any surviving crew. You found none, not even the captain.

Not that you would have stood around on deck while being fired upon, but…the captain saved your life by putting you in his cabin.

You looked at the new ship. The longer you looked at it, the more your hopes soared. You were saved!

But, some tiny voice nagging in the back of your mind kept telling you to look up, that it was too good to be true and you should be wary. So you obeyed the voice, and your eyes went straight to the top of the ship…where a plain, unmarked black flag flapped in the wind.

Pirates. The voice was right, it was too good to be true.

Though the distance between the two ships wasn’t too large, it still was not easy to see. But one man seemed to stand apart from the rest. You couldn’t make out many details, other than a blue coat and dark hair. Your mind decided he must be the captain.

He looked as if he was staring up at the British flag that your ship flew, but then his head snapped back down, looking directly at you. Heat enveloped your body as you felt it being filled with terror.

He shouted something to his crew, and his ship got closer and closer until the hulls scraped together. The crew gestured wildly at you.

"Come on, lass! Jump across!" you heard them shouting.

You didn’t want to. You really did not. Yes, the ship was sinking, but…these were pirates. Jump aboard the pirate ship and live, or sink with the passenger ship and drown?

When it was said like that, though, it sounded silly. 

Your hands trembled as you climbed onto the railing and struggled to keep your balance. You mentally prepared yourself for the jump, and kicked off with your legs. You landed safely on the opposite railing, but began to lose balance, and tip backwards. Thankfully, a pair of strong arms encircled your waist and pulled you to safety.

Your heart drummed heavily against your chest as the man held you tightly. That was far too close. When you looked up, you realized it was the man with the blue coat, the assumed captain. Now that you were closer, you got a better look.

He had a strong, broad neck, and a square jaw. Framing it were long, thick mutton chop sideburns. His hair, combed over, was a dark, earthy brown, almost black in color, and it looked thick, yet soft. His eyes were a striking hazel brown tinged with bits of green.

"You alright, then?" he asked. His voice was smooth, but had an underlying rough tone to it, likely from barking orders day after day.

You nodded numbly, unaware that you were holding tight to his coat lapels. He took your hands and gently pried them from his coat.

"Seems like the Spanish don’t know what a passenger ship looks like. Where’re you headed?"

It took you a moment to process what he’d said. It seemed like he wanted to help.

"Kingston."

He nodded. Throwing a gesture to his helmsman, he shouted out for the crew to loose the sails. He very gingerly placed his hand on the small of your back, and you were guided towards the cabin. When the door came into view, you tensed. He noticed your unease right away.

"Relax," he said soothingly. "I won’t touch you."

He was trying to comfort you. You were quite shaken up, after all. Everything had happened so fast. And, truthfully, it was working. You knew that there was no way to tell if his word was genuine, but you felt safe, inexplicably.

When he closed the door behind him, he motioned to a chair that sat across from the large desk int he center of the room. You sat, and he moved to a cabinet to pull out a bottle. Some sort of alcohol, you assumed. He tipped the bottle at an angle towards you, wordlessly asking if you would like any. You shook your head. He shrugged and poured himself some, then sat in the desk chair.

"What’s your name, lass?" he asked. You frowned.

"Is it not rude to ask one’s name without offering your own first?"

Damn it, you should have just kept your mouth shut. He was sure to take offense to that.

But to your surprise, he laughed. It was deep and masculine, but not in a menacing way.

"Fair enough," he said when his laughter died down. "I’m Benjamin Hornigold."

He held his hand out to you, as if to say without words, “now it’s your turn”. You gave him your name, and he smiled, satisfied.

"Was that so hard?"

You fought the overwhelming urge to roll your eyes, but as friendly as he was so far, you refused to get too comfortable. He was a pirate, and you did not trust him.

He propped his elbow on the desk and stared at you for a moment, undoubtedly deep in thought…you only wished you knew what he was thinking.

"You said you were headed to Kingston, then?" he asked, standing without hurry. When you confirmed, he nodded and downed his drink in one large swig.

He moved to the door and opened it, stepped outside, and yelled orders to his crew.

"Probably be best if you stay in here, lass. The crew won’t touch you if I say so, but…you’ll get in the way," he said gently, hoping not to offend. "Don’t worry, we’ll get you to Kingston safely."

He gave you permission to help yourself to his shelf of books to keep yourself entertained. After that, he left you alone, off to captain his ship.

—

During the two week long travel, you were flying through Benjamin’s books. Most of his books were almanacs, log books, old atlases, and one or two books on philosophy. He seemed a very smart man, possibly educated before he became a sailor, as it was unlikely - though not necessarily impossible - that he learned this all in that time.

The books that did interest you were novels and the like. He had a small, but interesting collection of literature. One particular book caught your eye.

A book with the name Love in Excess scrawled on the spine poked out between the others. Judging by the title, it seemed to be a romance novel. An odd choice for a pirate to have, but you supposed in order to find out, you’d have to read it yourself.

You pulled it carefully from the shelf, not wanting to disturb the other books surrounding it. The bindings seemed a bit worn, possibly indicating he read it frequently.

The book in hand, you settled down in a comfortable spot and opened to page one.

After reading for a while, you found yourself enraptured in the story the book was telling. Two upper class ladies seemed to be competing for the attention of one man, a Count D’Elmont, who was quite a scandalous man.

Yet, it was surprisingly thought-provoking. The novel had a lot to do with discussion of female desire in many forms - something that was generally unheard of before.

Benjamin came into his cabin every now and then, including to bring you meals of hard tack, dried meat, and pickled cabbage. In these times, you would hastily tuck the book somewhere he couldn’t see. You hadn’t a clue why, but the thought of him finding you reading a romance novel didn’t sit well with you.

"Why are you sittin’ here staring at the wall? You could read a book, you know. I told you that."

"I’ve finished them all," you lied.

“All of them?”

"Yes."

He gave you a look of astonishment, then shook his head.

"Well, I’m afraid that’s about all I’ve got to keep you occupied until we get to Kingston," he informed you. You shrugged, glad that he hadn’t discovered that you were reading the romance novel.

When he left again, you happily returned to the misadventures of Amena and Alovisa.

Sometimes Benjamin would sit in his cabin, writing something, the plume of the quill fluttering with each stroke. As you did not want to read Love in Excess in his presence, you resorted to observing him to entertain your mind.

He was handsome, in a rugged way. His white, dirty blouse dipped rather low, allowing a small patch of dark chest hair to peek out. He had a broad, appealing frame. As he looked down at the paper on his desk, his eyelashes appeared long and dark, and he nonchalantly ran a hand through his hair.

Without noticing, at first, you grasped at your skirt and bit your lip at his careless gesture. You breathed a heavy sigh, and he looked up at you.

"Something the matter?" he asked with a thick eyebrow raised in question. You snapped out of your trance, and looked away with shame, shaking your head briskly. He hummed in thought, and you could feel his eyes on you for a moment longer before he returned to his writings.

Your skin felt like it had been set ablaze. How embarrassing that he caught you staring! But, you thought about what you felt.

And you realized, that though your contact with him was limited, and you did not know him well…Benjamin was slowly becoming your D’Elmont.

—

You arrived in Kingston only a few days later than you’d scheduled to, which was fortunate. You would have preferred to be on time, but a few days delay was better than a few weeks.

"Here we are in Kingston, safe and unharmed," Benjamin said from behind you, "Just as I promised, lass."

The way he appeared behind you startled you, and you nearly jumped - something that greatly amused him, apparently.

"Settle down, there!" he said with a chuckle. "What, didn’t believe the word of a pirate?"

"Well…no," you admitted. "And yet here we are."

"Here we are," he repeated with a nod.

You realized this may be goodbye, and the thought did not sit well with you. Desperately, you searched your mind for something, anything to say to keep him around, even for a moment or two.

"What will you do now?" you asked him, glancing from the corner of your eye. He shrugged casually.

"Resupply, let the crew unwind for a day or two. Then it’s back to Nassau for us."

You struggled to keep the look of disappointment from crossing your face. But, evidently, you failed.

"Sad to see me go?" he teased. He placed one hand on his hip and looked down at you with a cocky smirk. In an attempt to play it cool, you scoffed.

"Hardly."

His face fell and he held his hands over his heard.

"You’ve hurt my feelings now," he said mockingly.

You didn’t know where this sudden camaraderie was coming from, but you couldn’t say that you didn’t enjoy it. But, it was not to last.

"Well, I’m afraid I must get going. My father will be expecting me…in truth, he has been for the past few days."

Benjamin tipped his head in understanding.

"Glad I could help out, even if I didn’t get you there on time."

You frowned in dismay.

"I’ve nothing to pay you with, Mr. Hornigold."

"You don’t need to. I made the decision to take you to your destination."

"Still, I feel terrible. You went through all the trouble-"

"I wouldn’t accept it anyway," he interrupted, voice stern. "Like I said, it was my decision to take you aboard.”

You stood, looking at him for a moment longer, before you smiled and held out your hand.

"It was a pleasure, Mr. Hornigold."

"Call me Ben," he requested before taking your hand and shaking it. You didn’t see the point in the dismissal of formalities, as you were about to part ways, but you agreed. Your hands lingered together briefly as you parted, and you set off to see your father.

—

When you reached your father’s large, but humble home, he was waiting anxiously.

"There you are! I was worried sick," he said before enveloping you in a tight hug. "You should have been here days ago, what happened?"

The thought of adding the stress of the truth - being set upon by Spanish and rescued by a pirate of all people - to his current worrying seemed cruel.

"It’s a long story, father. I promise, I will tell you soon, but let’s first get out of this heat and settle down a bit.”

"Very well, dear. Let’s continue our discussion over tea, then."

Together, you and your father sat at a mahogany table covered in a white cloth that had been yellowed slightly with age and use. Your father had a single maid. She occupied the kitchen while you sat and waited, discussing your escapades on the sea.

"Good Lord! A pirate, you say?"

"Yes. It seems so absurd, I know…but he helped me and asked for nothing in return."

"To think you were at the mercy of such monsters for so long…"

You flinched at your father’s insult. You mostly interacted with Ben, but when you’d talked with the other crew members, they all seemed quite amiable.

The maid then entered the room carrying a tray with the tea kettle and two cups and saucers. She set the cups down before you both, and poured the fragrant, dark amber drink into them. She set the sugar and cream down for you and left.

It was then that you remembered, suddenly, that your father had called you here for a reason. This wasn’t a leisurely visit, after all.

"Now," you said, stirring in three spoonfuls of sugar and watching it dissolve, "you said in your letter that you had a surprise?"

He nodded, sipping his plain, unsweetened tea. You poured a generous amount of cream into your tea until it was light in color, and stirred it in before indulging in a sip.

"I thought it best we discuss this in person, rather than through paper," he said seriously. It was concerning.

"What is it?" you asked suspiciously. You didn’t like the way your father was already beginning to dance around the subject rather than just telling you outright. You brought the cup to your mouth.

"My dear…" he said, pausing. "I have found you a suitor."

The cup stopped just before you could put your lips to it.

"A…a suitor?"

"Indeed. He’s quite a respected young gentleman, I assure you. And very wealthy."

As if that was supposed to comfort you. Your mind immediately flashed to Ben, and you felt panic rising in your stomach.

But you were determined not to let your father see.

"That’s wonderful, father…" you said quietly. You didn’t do a very good job of keeping the disappointment from your voice, but he didn’t seem to notice.

"I’m glad you think so! Now, I’ve arranged for you to meet him tomorrow…"

—

You needed to clear your head. When it grew darker, you told your father you needed something, and were going for a walk. Before you left, you grabbed the bag that you took just about everywhere with you. Your heart was pounding in your chest, dread filling you from head to toe.

It was silly. Downright ridiculous, really. But in such a short time, you’d grown so unavoidably fond of Ben…to discover you have a suitor was like a punch to the gut.

As you walked, with your head down and gaze pointed at the dirt path your feet walked on, you did not pay attention to wear you were going, and bumped into a figure.

"Oh! I’m terribly sorr-"

"Ah, it’s you again!"

You looked up upon hearing the smooth-yet-gruff voice you recognized. It was none other than Ben.

"Oh…hello, Mr. Hornigold."

"Seems we can’t stay away from each other, eh? And I told you, call me Ben."

Your breath caught in your throat as he smiled down at you, face friendly. But he must have sensed your distress, and his smile fell away.

"What’s wrong, then?" His eyes darted back and forth. "You in trouble?"

"No, no, nothing like that!" you assured him. He relaxed.

"I recognize trouble when I see it, even if it’s not the violent sort."

You sighed.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Aye, it is…tell you what: you can tell me about it on the way back to my ship. Agreed?"

Your mind was telling you it would be a bad idea, and that it would only complicate things. But the rest of you was saying, no, screaming “yes”.

You threw caution to the wind.

"Agreed."

While you walked side by side with him, you carefully spilled your problem to him. You relayed concerns - leaving out the part involving himself - and your reluctance.

"A suitor, aye?" he said. You were unable to read any emotion from it. "…lady problems."

"I suppose so," you said dejectedly.

The two of you continued until you reached the docks. He walked with practiced ease on the wooden planks, and it was quite obvious he was a sailor.

You, however, caught your foot on an uneven plank, and tripped ungracefully with a small shriek, and fell to your knees. The contents of your bag spilled out, and you groaned with frustration and began to gather them.

Ben laughed, the bastard, but stooped down to help you. His hands brushed over a familiar item, and he picked it up.

"Is this my book?"

You looked up. In his hands was the copy of Love in Excess. Damn, you must have absentmindedly taken it with you upon leaving the ship earlier.

"Yes…I swear, I didn’t steal it!" Technically you did. "I swear, it was not my intention to take it from y-"

"Relax, it’s just a book," he said, placing his thumb on the spine.

"Still, though. I am sorry."

He took your hand to make sure you would not trip and fall again, and led you to his ship. He stepped into his cabin and placed the book back where it belonged.

"Did you like it?" he asked. You thought briefly before you answered.

"Yes," you replied. "I found it refreshing that the author touched on the subject of a woman’s desires…I found Alovisa quite devious, and…D’Elmont was charming. And…"

He raised his brow.

"And?"

"…it’s a bit strange to admit out loud, but without realizing…I began to see your image in D’Elmont’s place."

You wanted to run. To bury your face in something, out of his view. It probably sounded like a ridiculous confession of love to him. You were sure your face was bright red, as it felt hotter than the sun.

"Well, that’s a relief."

"I’m sorry?" you said incredulously.

"I thought I picked up on an…attraction to me as we sailed. Can’t say I don’t feel the same towards you. I was beginning to think that I may have been wrong."

He stepped forward, and without wasting another second, he took your face in his calloused hands and brought it up to meet his own in a kiss. You didn’t hesitate to return it, and moved your own hands to caress his neck.

The kiss ended, but it was followed immediately by a second, and a third. You pushed him backwards until the back of his legs hit the side of his bed, making your intentions clear.

"I’m leaving in the morning," he whispered as he kissed your neck. "You should come with me."

In that moment, you would do anything he wanted you to.

"Yes," you moaned.

"You’re not concerned about your suitor?" he asked between kisses.

"Not one bit," you said.

"Good, nor am I."

He was a regular D’Elmont.


End file.
